Akai Tsukiko
Akai Tsukiko is an assassin and mercenary from the Shaderian Republic of Dawn. She was hired by Blackthorn to take part in the Pandora's Box heist. During the robbery she was trapped within her own mind by Pandora's Box and is currently in a very deep coma. Early Life Before she was born, Akai's parents lived in the SRD mainland, just north of Ahm Fen, where Masaaki trained the dawnese armies in the ways of the Samurai. When Katsumi learned she was pregnant she proposed that she, Masaaki and their firstborn son Ichirou, move away from the city to a small farming village in the south. After much discussion Masaaki finally agreed that it would be best for the family, though when he requested an exciting opportunity arose. The northern colonies had just recently been claimed and were in desperate need of citizens to live there. Though reluctant at first the young family were offered a large area of land to call their own, and Masaaki was offered a high level promotion within the Dawnese military should they accept what was offered. Although very nervous, the young family decided that this was an opportunity they could not pass up and set sail for the new world. Four months later Akai was born. Much like her brother, Ichirou, Akai was taught the ways of the warrior from a very young age, and showed great promise in her use of the sword. Ichirou, however, was not quite as skilled. Generation after generation of Tsukiko family firstborns grew up to become world renowned warriors, and heroes of the nation, and it pained Masaaki deeply to imagine his son would be the end of this tradition. Though her parents praised her skill, Ichirou was always the centre of her father's attention, and the resentment between Akai and Ichirou soon began to grow. - Other siblings born - Ichirou sent to war when Akai begged her father to go - Ichirou died during the battle, Akai let go of her resentment towards her brother and blamed her parents. - Akai left home for the mainland and soon found work as a mercenary Personality Though she has deviated somewhat from her father's teachings, Akai still holds honour above all else and has a strict moral code which she lives by. She finds killing an unarmed or sleeping foe cowardly and never shows disrespect for those she has killed. When she must kill against her wishes she utters the words "Kiri-sute gomen" before piercing their heart quickly. Though she is very cold and professional during her work, when she is not on a mission she is totally different. Having little need for the money she earns, Akai often helps with the upkeep of the local school, where she occasionally works as an art teacher. Despite having many friends in her village, none of them know about her work as an assassin, nor do they know of her family. Appearances *At the Bottom of the Box Trivia *Akai's favourite past-time is landscape painting, and has been since she was a little girl. She believes that the control she learnt whilst painting has helped her master the katana arts. *Akai still uses the same katana she forged at 16 years of age. *Akai has a fondness for animals. She has two akita dogs, Kiku and Iwa; a large pond filled with various breeds of fish, though her most prized are the koi; as well as five Dawnese songbirds. *Akai has visited her family numerous times in the years since she left them, though never with their knowledge. She hopes, deep down, that one day she will find the courage to return to them. *Akai was born with a condition known as "situs inversus." This means that the position of her major organs are on the opposite side of the body. This condition may have saved her life as she was once "stabbed through the heart" by one of her foes, but survived the attack as her heart wasn't there.